The Narrandera Fisheries Centre was opened in 1962, with Dr John Lake as scientist-in-charge. Narrandera became a focal point for the rehabilitation of native freshwater fish stocks in NSW following drought.

In 1967 interest in prawn farming saw the commencement of the current Port Stephens Fisheries Research Institute. In Francois’ era, this was Australia’s leading aquaculture research facility.

A major investment by the NSW Government in 1969 was the commissioning of the Fisheries research vessel Kapala. The Kapala undertook major oceanic fisheries research over more than 20 years in the waters off NSW, discovering major fisheries resources and contributing to the identification of many previously unknown fish and crustaceans.

Through his vision, NSW Fisheries grew in the 1960s to 1980s, with investment in research, compliance and administrative staff and facilities.

He was the first to commission recreational fisheries research capacity and initiated the still active NSW Gamefish Tagging Program, trialed experimental fish aggregating devices and invested in cutting edge aquaculture of oysters, prawns and fish.

He funded deepwater fish research including identifying the first commercial aggregations of gemfish, orange roughy and a number of dory species, supported fish genetics and nutrition research, enabled restocking of native freshwater fishes, initiated the declaration of marine reserves and supported the successful breeding of Australian bass.

Changes to State and Commonwealth management arrangements under the Offshore Constitutional Settlement and the absorption of NSW Fisheries into NSW Agriculture saw a gradual reduction in state government funding support for Fisheries and fisheries science, compliance and administration and subsequently Francois’ retirement as director of Fisheries in 1986.

Don was a keen bon vivant and had established a vineyard, Chateau Francois, on the Broke Road at Pokolbin in 1969. He built the smallholding into a successful single-person vineyard with classic Hunter Valley Semillon, Pinot Noir and Shiraz, winning awards at major shows.

This recognition was important and he would regularly send clippings of his successes to colleagues. His semillon frequently appeared in James Halliday’s Top 100, and Chateau Francois was recognized as a 4-star winery in the Halliday Wine Companion. James Halliday recounts how he first met Francois in the laundry of his Chatswood house, where various concoctions were fermenting in the copper laundry tub.

Francois was an active member of the NSW Wine and Food Society and a long-standing member of the Escoffier Society. Colleagues still remember the (long) Friday afternoon wine tastings in his office in Kent Street, where he used the building’s cellar to store the wine.

Len Evans tasted his first efforts at winemaking and told him to raise the price, much to the consternation of those who had already placed orders. Decades later, Halliday also cautioned him that his wine was too good to sell for the ‘proverbial song’.

He quickly developed friendships with the legendary generation of vignerons who included Evans, Max Lake, and Jim Margan. Alongside established winemakers like Murray Tyrell, Brian McGuigan et al, these men worked hard, partied hard, and helped shape Hunter Valley wine culture.

Bruce Tyrrell notes that one of the constants in Pokolbin was the annual Sunday picking of Don’s semillon. He would convince up to 20 to 25 locals to come and pick the grapes on Sunday morning and be paid with lunch and plenty of good wine.

He was a keen gardener, fly fisherman and banjo player of enthusiastic skill. He loved nature and beauty. In his youth, he had been an outstanding sportsman and was awarded a wrestling scholarship to the University of Ohio. He was a champion marksman with pistol and rifle.

Don Francois was a hard negotiator and could be a challenging personality on occasions (as some Commonwealth Fisheries colleagues could well attest), but he will be universally remembered as an intelligent man of passion, a man of vision and a doer who achieved a lot in his 88 years.

He is survived by his wife Jana Francois Jones, daughters Rachel and Nicole from a previous marriage, and three grandchildren.

John Glaister and Bob Martin